Remember Allah and Remember Our Fathers

ASA,

So, when you have completed your rites then remember Allah as the remembrance of your fathers or stronger in terms of remembrance… Qur’an 2:200

This verse is in reference to the season that is upon us, the Hajj season. When we begin the rites of the Hajj we put on the clothing that is called Ihram. The clothes is the indication that we are now in the state of Ihram or the forbidding state. There are things that are now forbidden to us in the Masjid Haram or the sacred precinct.

Many students and scholars of the religion have said that the Ihram is worn by the men and the political, national or cultural dress is discarded as a show of equality. It is a time to remember Allah and take off the clothes and remembrance of your social, political, industrial or national fathers.

After you have completed your rituals then you are free (Ihlal) to put back on your father’s dress as you remember them. But, continue to remember Allah much as you remember your fathers. Allah is not telling us to forget our fathers, but to remember Him the same as you remember your fathers. And remember Him stronger, or have a stronger remembrance.

We are Muslim American. We are Muslim and we are American. We have our political/social fathers. Some of us may not be able to accept it but Thomas Jefferson is one of our political forefathers. Also, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and others who initiated the political structuring of this country.

Also we have our social/cultural fathers such as Fredrick Douglass, W. E. B. Dubois, Booker T. Washington, Drew Ali, Elijah Muhammed, Martin Luther King, Jr., W. Deen Mohammed and more. In many of our local communities we have our fathers as well. So, we should remember our fathers. Women are included in this concept of father. Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Clara Muhammed and others. We have industrial fathers as well.

We should have an observance day that we take the time to remember our fathers. Such a day is called Saviors’ Day for us. We should not have a day to remember just one of our fathers. Martin Luther King Day shouldn’t be the only father remembered. He is in a line of many fathers that have helped in establishing us as Americans.

In all of our remembrance, remember Allah much.

Salim MuMin
M.A.L.I.
Muslim American Logic Institute